‘The Hill with April Ryan’ dives into Republican ‘chaos’ and Black book bans

Catch an all-new episode of “The Hill with April Ryan” every Thursday on theGrio.com and theGrio’s social media platforms.

On the latest episode of “The Hill with April Ryan,” host and theGrio’s White House correspondent and Washington bureau chief, April D. Ryan, breaks down the latest on Capitol Hill as House Republicans navigate what the White House has called “chaos” to determine who will be their next House speaker.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., successfully moved to vacate Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from the top post in the House of Representatives. In the meantime, without a speaker, doubts emerge Republicans will be able to coalesce around a new leader as time winds down before another threat of a government shutdown.

Meanwhile, Rev. Al Sharpton is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to “look into a civil rights lawsuit” against conservative litigant Edward Blum, who led a lawsuit against the co-founders of the Fearless Fund, a venture capital firm that awards grants to women of color entrepreneurs.

Sharpton told theGrio he would like to see the DOJ “join in whatever legal strategy the co-founders of the Fearless Fund come through with,” including filing a letter supporting their appeal. The civil rights icon said, “Either way, it is a high hill to climb.”

“This is as much a civil issue.. as it is a political issue,” said the head of the National Action Network. 

Sharpton’s new effort comes after a setback in an Atlanta court, where a judge panel ruled 2-1 to temporarily block the Fearless Fund’s $20,000 grant for Black women-owned businesses.  

This week also marks Banned Books Week, which is being celebrated across the country in support of books by Black authors who have been banned in recent months due to censorship in schools and libraries led by Republican elected officials. 

TheGrio delved into the concept of why Black books matter and some solutions for Black America in this climate, including using said banned books as teaching materials. 

The DC-based bookstore chain Mahogany Books owner talked with theGrio about the efforts. 

Ramunda Young, who co-owns the bookstores with her husband, said, “We deserve to know how great we were. We deserve to know the places that we’ve come from and where we are going to, and that impacts us on every level mentally, emotionally and spiritually.”

Bishop Vashti McKenzie, president of the National Council of Churches, is calling for Sunday school programs at Black churches to fill in the gap when it comes to the national bans of Black books.  

McKenzie, who was named the first Black woman bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, told theGrio, “We have the right to read, the right to learn and the right to write.”

“If our local congregations add Black history to their Sunday School curriculum, their bible study…we can flip the script,” she argued. The spiritual leader believes this approach would even lead many Black authors to make it to the New York Times best-selling lists.

Catch an all-new episode of “The Hill with April Ryan” every Thursday on theGrio.com and theGrio’s social media platforms.

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